Here are some facts and statistics about gender inequality.
- The percentage of parliamentary seats occupied by women in Colombia is decreasing with currently only 8% in comparison with 11% in 1995.
- Every minute and a half a woman is raped in the USA.
- In Saudi Arabia, men have the right to twice the inheritance women are allowed, and women are obliged to have a tutor accompany them for many daily tasks of life.
- In Papua New Guinea women continue to suffer widespread sorcery-related abuses. In one small province alone, approximately 150 women are believed to be killed each year for allegedly practicing witchcraft
- An extra year of primary school encourages girls to marry later in ilfe and have fewer children. It also makes them less likely to experience violence and increases their eventual wages by 10-20 percent.
- In Pakistan a half kilometer increase in the distance to school will decrease girls' enrolment by 20%. In Afghanistan, Indonesia and several other countries, building local schools in rural communities has led to increases in girls' enrolment rates.
- Nearly 50% of women in South Asia and over 60% in the Pacific Islands are still concentrated in agriculture. Unpaid work on family agricultural enterprises accounts for 34% of informal employment for women in India.